I've always loved writing lists, and the satisfaction of ticking things off those lists is such a good feeling! Most of the notes I write are always for day to day and short term goals, but more recently (ok, as the big 3-0 approaches next year) I've been thinking more about longer term goals, and what I'd like to achieve before my 30th birthday in 2019. Thus, the 30 before 30 list is born! I hope by recording these on the internet that I'll definitely try my damn hardest to complete as many as possible, and I think it will be really cool to do an update of how I got on with reaching my goals come next year. So, here goes...

Sometimes its the biggest of things and sometimes it's the littlest of things which put a smile on your face and a spring in your step. You guys know I'm not exactly groundbreaking when it comes to fashion, I like what I wear and I wear what I like. It's nice to be comfy but also feel confident and take joy in the things which make you feel good about yourself. In today's post I think I'm wearing the most day to day 'me' outfit I'll ever wear. Boring? Maybe. Content and confident? Hell yes.

It's hard to believe it's been over 6 whole months since I brought this little squishy baby home with me. I remember (at that exact moment above) being handed Bronson for the first time, and thinking shit... what have I done?! He was so tiny, and it was the first time I'd ever owned a dog before. Even growing up we only really had cats, fish and guinea pigs in the family, so this was a whole new territory for me. Pete was away on tour with his band that week, so my friend Ashley took the drive up to Dundee with me for moral support, and was able to capture some really lovely pictures of our first day together.

Well hello 2017, it sure is nice to see ya! It's taken me a few days longer than planned to get this blog post up, as I've been hit with that cold and flu bug which loads of folk seem to be suffering from at the moment. But to be honest it's set me up in a good mindset for entering the new year - taking life slow and steady. I have a few personal goals which I'd like to achieve this year, but all in all I want my pace of life to be a lot less frantic and a whole lot more purposeful. Sure, I always live my life with purpose but when you cram so much into so little time... the time you do spend in that moment is always gone in a flash. This year I really want to focus on 'the now' as much as possible. I'll make plans and have goals (girl boss for life, that's never gonna change!) but I won't worry if things don't go to plan or I venture off the path I've set. Being a control freak and a worrier when it comes to anything and everything really doesn't generate the best quality of life. No matter what each day brings, I want to listen to my body (physically, emotionally and mentally) as much as possible. Say yes more, say no more, break the routine, and not let anxiety and habits determine how this year, and years to come, will pan out.

It's funny how after 7+ years I still never quite know how to start off a blog post without feeling slightly awkward, so I'll just begin by going HEYYY there! Again, I meant to be back into a posting routine sooner but I'm still feeling in a bit of a funk. My motivation levels are all over the place and often being sooked dry by work, but that's the constant battle I face trying to get the balance just right. I tend to get pangs of motivation at the most unlikely times (like yeah let's totally clear out and rearrange the contents of my makeup drawer at midnight because why not?!) rather than when I know I need to get shit done. So it's Sunday night, I'm feeling pretty rested from lots of sleep this weekend, and have decided to treat myself to a bubble bath once I hit publish on this blog post. BYE THEN, THE END. Just kidding, I have some lovely pictures I'd like to share with you from last weekend at wedding number four of 2016.

Oh hey you guuuuys. I took a little break from blogging for the last couple of weeks, mainly because I was mad busy and really wanted to focus on getting things wrapped up at work and a few other bits and bobs which have been happening. Thought I'd give you a run down on whats been going on recently, and what my plans are for the next little while now I'm finished up on my latest BBC job 'The Replacement' (which is hands down one of the most exciting scripts I've ever worked on, if you like thrillers then you are gonna love it. Along with Vicky McClure, she is one crazy talented actress)

I'm super excited to announce that at in a couple of weeks time, myself and
eight other Scottish Bloggers will be holding the first ever Scottish Blogger Shop! If you love a
bargain and fancy shopping some of our wardrobes (or just wanna come
hang and say hello) then on Sunday 21st August
you can come down to Hillhead Book Club and do just that.

It wasn't gonna be long before I started missing having a fringe! Or 'bangs' as all the cool kids call them. I get awfully bored when my hair stays the same way for too long, so having a fringe cut in tends to distract me from taking any length off the ends. I'm trying to grow my hair at the moment (and maybe even considering extensions) cause as I get older, I feel like my hair takes even longer to grow. I'd love to hear your opinions and experiences with hair extensions. I'm off to Singapore and Vietnam for two weeks in September, so will probably wait until I get back to look into them properly, as I know it's gonna be ridiculously warm and muggy over there, and my hair will be getting tied up into a birds nest on the top of my head most days.

Another weekend, another wedding! Tis the season and all that though, eh? Pete and I spent last Friday to Sunday at Carberry Tower out in the countryside near Mussleburgh to celebrate his cousin Louise's wedding. This time rather than getting super emotional blog post wise (sorry not sorry for that last one) I thought I'd try to be semi useful and share some tips for long lasting makeup, for a long day such as a wedding. My pores are feeling really clogged at the moment, just with months of working like mad and sort of (to be honest, COMPLETELY) neglecting my usual skincare regime. You can see it pretty badly on my nose in this picture, but I know it's down to my skin at the moment rather than the makeup I'm using. It gave me a kick up the backside after seeing this photo (my new Canon M3 is lovely but rather unforgiving) so I started a new skincare routine last Monday which I shall share on here soon. Pore-y noses aside, here are my long lasting makeup must haves.

“A soulmate is someone who has locks that fit our keys, and keys to fit
our locks. When we feel safe enough to open the locks, our truest selves
step out and we can be completely and honestly who we are; we can be
loved for who we are and not for who we’re pretending to be. Each
unveils the best part of the other. No matter what else goes wrong
around us, with that one person we’re safe in our own paradise. Our soulmate is someone who shares our deepest
longings, our sense of direction. When we’re two balloons, and together
our direction is up, chances are we’ve found the right person. Our
soulmate is the one who makes life come to life. ” — Richard Bach

On the 11th of June I turned 27 (yikes!) and every year it feels like my birthday properly marks the start of summer. Even if the weather doesn't quite match up to it (I'm looking at you, Glasgow) This time of year is always really busy for me work wise, as the longer days are always used to their full advantage by film & tv crews. This current BBC job has been super busy, we started filming on Monday and surprisingly I've had quite a nice spring in my step all week. It's probably a lot down to my medication kicking in right about now (Thanks for all the nice messages after that last post ♥) but also to do with the extended daylight! It gives me such a good buzz and I feel like I get a lot out of my week. I've felt inspired to kick start my self care regime again properly, refresh my routine, and spring clean (in summer!) my clothes, makeup, and pretty much every nook and cranny of my house. Anyways, whether this summer ends up being filled with rain or not, my brain is in a much better place now so I really don't mind. Here are my top summer essentials while the season is upon us.

BOOOOOBS! Do I have your attention? Put a bunch of bloggers in a room with a rail full of beautiful clothes from House Of Fraser, a selection of bralettes from the new Ultimo SS16 collection, and a photographer... well, this is what happens!

I remember the first time when I was little and my Mum styled my hair into what can only be described as a pineapple pony tail (half up, half down, with the pony swinging about like nobody's business) and I made her put my hair like that every day for the whole summer. This is pretty much how I felt at my recent visit to Paddy for a colour refresh. I'm obsessed with anything Opal at the moment, and my new colour definitely fits the bill. Business in the front, braid party in the back!

I meant to publish this post on Sunday but I was tenderly nursing a hangover from my bestie's leaving do the night before. I still can't believe that Leah is moving to Canada on Saturday for two whole years. I am so proud of her, but man I'm gonna miss her. There's gonna be tears at the airport, that's for sure. What I reeeeally could have done with on Sunday, was to spend the afternoon at The Trading House like I did a few weekends ago. Coffee, a couple of newspapers, great banter, and a good old Sunday Roast - yes please!

A few weeks ago I took a little day trip through to Edinburgh with a handful of other Scottish Bloggers, for a coffee themed event with Curry's! My day actually began with a trip to see the fantastic Dale at Pixie Hair and Beauty for some brow tlc and makeup, but more on that later. You all know how much I love coffee (and my lil' death before decaf tattoo tribute) so I was super intrigued to try some Nespresso infused dishes. Coffee flavoured coffee, yes. Coffee flavoured food? Let's see how this goes...

I'd say the answer to the above is yes. But my goodness it takes a hell of a lot of practice and much trial and error before things feel 'right'. That horrible feeling of overwhelm is the biggest source of my anxiety, with too much to do in too little time being the ongoing theme throughout my life. Not enough time to do all the things I wanna do, and see the people I wanna see. While squeezing a bit of time in between myself to do absolutely nothing (Cause we all need a bit of that sometimes, right?) Or simple pleasures like reading, baking, painting... things which I hardly do these days because I just guilt myself thinking I could be clearing up, or doing that pile of washing, or getting some tax paperwork done! Yay to adulting! Yay to being freelance and spinning an abundance of plates at the one time, always knowing that if you let one drop then you might not pay your bills that month. But y'know what, it's okay. I've just spent 7 weeks on an extremely enjoyable but intense job, and I feel like for the first time in forever I didn't feel anywhere close to burn out at any point during it.

Last week my lovely boyfriend turned 27 and it ended up being a four day
celebration full of food, tattoos and spa treatments. On the Wednesday,
Pete ended up taking the day off work (before his planned days off on
the Thursday and Friday) because he's having mega back problems at the
moment. That's what happens when you get oooold (Just kidding, I'm 27
this summer too. HALP ME) I'd had plans of running a few last minute
errands that day, and going to Wholefoods to buy stuff for a nice
birthday dinner and his birthday cake too. But OF COURSE the wounded
soldier ended up complaining that he wanted to come with me. So the game
was a bogey in terms of foodie surprises. I even tried to hide the
birthday cake but they gave me it in a box with a see through top. I'd
done quite well in hiding his presents anyways (this sorta thing becomes
a bit of a challenge when you live with someone) so wasn't gonna beat
myself up too much that he'd seen his cake, despite me trying my hardest
to be a birthday ninja!

Things have been pretty quiet on the work front for me so far in 2016. TV jobs normally don't start to appear until early February, so I've been taking advantage of this time to focus on my Forever Living business, get some 'life admin' done, and take part in other little projects and experiences while I've got this chilled start to the year. Every day feels like a blank canvass, and that excites me so much. You know how I said before that we should do something every day which scares us? Well for every week of the new year which has passed so far I've tried to really push myself and do things totally out of my comfort zone. If you never try, you'll never know, right? The first week in January I signed up as a Glasgow Catsitter through Cat In A Flat, last week I went through to Edinburgh to shoot with a photographer I'd never met before - Impish Eye, and next weekend I'll be going up on stage at the Clyde Auditorium to get recognition for my recent Forever promotion. Even on days where my anxiety takes hold I want to look back on this year and think girl, you nailed it! I constantly have that inner dialogue trying to figure out the best balance between self care and confidence building (Thank you Lynsay for helping get my brain around that phrase and truly understanding what it means to me) I'm trying to dip my toes in the water as much as possible, and go with my gut feeling rather than sitting there for too long pondering 'is this water too cold, too hot, too choppy?!' The thought of going through to a city I'm not familiar with, to work with a photographer I've never met before was pretty daunting. But I really clicked with Michael over instagram, so thought why the hell not! The water felt warm, but my goodness Edinburgh was cold...

Who am I kidding - it doesn't take the excuse of a new year for me to go for a new hair colour (much to my hairdressers dismay...) After having lovely orange and copper locks for a few months, I decided it was time for a change. Timehop had been reminding me that two years ago I went blonde, which I really loved. I started to get major hair envy over my own old photographs (THAT BITCH, I want her hair!) I only went and ruined it by dying it blue, thinking that the blue would fade out to a nice pastel colour and then go blonde again, just like the pink did. Boy I was wrong! I loved my blue hair, but it was very hard to upkeep. The blonde was beyond saving so I ended up going dark brown over the top late last year. I feel like now is the time for me to head back to blonde again, and hopefully not ruin it this time! Being able to wash light pastel colours in and out of blonde hair should keep me entertained for the forseeable future (fingers crossed, I am a rather fickle wee bird as you can see)

I'm in a bit of a strange daze right now, mainly because my belly is full of pizza and Christmas chocolate and I've been sleeping silly amounts the past few days. It has been so nice to switch my brain off over the festive period, but now it's got to the point that even when I check my phone I still can't remember what day or date it is. The last week has been a total blur of food and laughter, between spending Christmas Day at my Mums, Boxing day at my Dads, and then the day after up at Pete's Dads. It was lovely to get out of the city, get some fresh air and go for walks (So although I've been quiet on here you can still follow my daily updates on Instagram)

I'm really looking forward to cracking out my new diary and notebook (okay, notebooks...) and getting organised for 2016. Along with getting back on the healthy living wagon. Seriously, I look about 5 months pregnant and feel hella sluggish! One of the pressies Pete got me for Christmas was a nutribullet, so I look forward to whizzing up ALL THE FRUIT AND VEGGIES while praying my body forgives me for how indulgent I've been. I had a glass of water this morning and it tasted like sweet nectar, as if I've been trawling through a desert for all of December. Caffeine and alcohol, y u no hydrate me? I feel bloody broken! 2016, I am so ready for you.